Italian PM to defy judge's ruling

Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, went into battle with the country's judiciary yesterday, making clear that even if he is found guilty of corruption by judges in Milan in coming months, he does not intend to resign.

"I will carry out my duty as prime minister right to the very end ... without ever betraying the mandate I was given by my electorate," he said in a stern-faced television address to the nation.

The defiant comments came the day after Italy's supreme court rejected the prime minister's appeal for his corruption trial to be moved to Brescia, on the basis that Milan's "leftwing" judges were biased.

The media tycoon - Italy's richest man - is accused of bribing a judge during a corporate takeover battle in 1986. The ruling means the Milan trial could conclude this summer and Italy could find its leader facing a long jail sentence for corruption just as it takes over the presidency of the European Union.

Mr Berlusconi said he would defend himself against "incredible judicial persecution" and warned that the country's constitution was at risk.

Piero Fassino, the head of Italy's largest opposition party, the Democrats of the Left, warned that the speech was "arrogant and threatening".

Mr Berlusconi complained that since he was elected in May 2001, "Jacobin leftwing magistrates" have led 87 investigations into his business interests. He is appealing against minor convictions but the Milan case is by far the most serious.

He has already lost his hold on power once because of corruption allegations. In 1994 he was forced to resign after only months as prime minister when his centre-right coalition partners turned against him.

Critics have accused him of trying to make himself "untouchable" by passing laws such as the one that allows defendants to appeal against judges they consider biased.